One of the most corrupt regime in the world accuses US of meddling its affairs for revealing the scale of its corruption

Cambodia accuses US of meddling in its affairs

Tuesday, June 02, 2009
ABC Radio Australia

Cambodia has accused the United States of meddling in its internal affairs after the US ambassador said the impoverished nation was losing up to 500 million dollars a year through corruption.

US ambassador to Cambodia, Carol Rodley, says rampant graft is preventing the country from developing its public services, education and healthcare.

Cambodia's anti-graft chief, Om Yentieng, says the ambassador's remarks were an attempt to undermine a government which has the support of the people.

Transparency International last year ranked Cambodia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, placing it 14th among 180 nations studied.

Hun Sen's regime on US ambassador's corruption allegation: Deny! Deny! Deny!

Cambodia denies US diplomat's corruption allegation

Tue, Jun 02, 2009
AFP

"We have never said that there is no corruption in Cambodia..." - CPP Ong Yentieng

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - Cambodia Tuesday rejected a US diplomat's reported statement that graft costs the country up to US$500 million every year, branding her assertion "politically motivated and unsubstantiated."

US ambassador Carol Rodley made the allegation Saturday at a Phnom Penh anti-corruption concert, remarking, "five hundred million is equivalent to the cost of constructing 20,000 six-room school buildings," said a local report.

In a letter to the US embassy on Tuesday, Cambodia's foreign ministry said it "absolutely refutes the politically motivated and unsubstantiated allegation made by the United States diplomat."

The letter added that the US$500-million corruption figure was a "biased assessment" that came from an opposition party-linked economic institute.

Rodley's use of it, the letter said, was "in contradiction of the good relations between Cambodia and the United States."

Senior minister Om Yentieng, chairman of the government's anti-corruption unit, said in a press conference Tuesday that Rodley's allegation "strongly affects the honour and reputation of the Cambodian government."

"We have never said that there is no corruption in Cambodia.... But when saying that the level of corruption in Cambodia is so serious like the allegation, we cannot accept it," Om Yentieng said.

The US embassy was not immediately available for comment, but a 2004 report by the US Agency for International Development said informants estimated annual diversions from Cambodian government coffers at US$300 - US$500 million.

Donors pledged nearly one billion dollars in development aid to Cambodia last year despite strong concerns over rampant corruption and demands by rights groups that donors get tough on the government's apparent refusal to reform.

Cambodia's cabinet also issued a statement Tuesday saying Rodley's US$500 million figure was "regrettable" as well as a "groundless" allegation that it considered a "manipulation of the truth."

Corrupt Hun Sen's regime wants to silence US ambassador's critics

Cambodia hits back at U.S. over graft comments

Tue Jun 2, 2009

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia accused the United States of meddling in its internal affairs on Tuesday after Washington's ambassador said the impoverished nation was losing up to $500 million a year through corruption.

Cambodia's foreign ministry urged diplomats to "refrain from interfering" after the U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, Carol Rodley, said rampant graft was preventing the country from developing its public services, education and healthcare.

"(The government) wishes to remind all members of the diplomatic corps to maintain their neutrality and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Cambodia," the ministry said in a statement.

Cambodia's anti-graft chief, Om Yentieng, said Rodley's remarks, made on Saturday at an anti-corruption concert in Phnom Penh, were an attempt to undermine a government which had the support of the people.

"If the ruling party had acted in such a way, we would not have gained votes and continued to stay in power," Yentieng told reporters.

A report last year by anti-graft watchdog Transparency International ranked Cambodia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, placing it 14th among 180 nations studied.

(Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Martin Petty and Sugita Katyal)